History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 162

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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WILLIAM H. DUMONT was born in Lockland May 10, 1839, the son of John B.

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and Mary A. (Wyckoff) Dumont, natives of New Jersey, the former of French and the latter of German descent. The father was a carpenter and contractor. He and his wife died in 1846, within two weeks of each other. They were the parents of four children, of whom our subject is the only one living. £ Those deceased are: Mary J., Abigail and John.

The subject of this sketch was reared in Lockland and received his education in the public schools of the village. After the death of his parents, he lived with his sisters, and when a young man learned the trade of paper making. In 1863 he went to California, where he worked at his trade two years, and then returned to Lockland. In 1867 he commenced running a boat line on the Miami and Erie canal, a business which he has since successfully conducted. In 1861 he enlisted in Com- pany A. Seventy-fifth O. V. I., under Capt. C. W. Friend, and took part in the fol- lowing battles: Sulphur Springs, Waterloo Bridge, Monterey, Shaw Ridge, Mc- Dowell, Franklin, Strasburg, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Freeman Ford, Bull Run, and Alda. He received his discharge in 1863. In 1869 he married Miss Emma Boggs, daughter of David and Mary (Linn) Boggs, Emma being one of five children born to them, three of whom are living: Sarah J., wife of Abraham Hoagland, Emma, and Ayres. To Mr. and Mrs. Dumont were born two children: George H., and Mabel L., who died March 19, 1879. Politically Mr. Dumont is a Republican, and was a member of the council one term. He served during the years 1882-83-84 as superintendent of the Miami and Erie canal from Cincinnati and Dayton.

PHILIP GRUSH was born in Chambersburg, Penn., March 12, 1816, son of Martin and Elizabeth (Shafer) Grush, of German descent. The subject of our sketch was one of nine children. He was reared on his father's farm and received his educa- tion in the common schools of the neighborhood. He came to Cincinnati in the fall of 1833, was engaged in a flourmill for eight years, and subsequently followed farm- ing and teaming. In 1865 he went into the ice business, to which he has since given his attention. He was married, in 1841, to Jane Batchelor, and eight chil- dren have blessed this union, of whom three are living: Mary, wife of James Ervin; Abia, wife of David Thompson, and Morris B., who resides at Lockland. Mr. and Mrs. Grush are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically he is a Prohibitionist.

JOHN G. LYONS was born in Indiana county, Penn., April 10, 1823, the son of James and Elizabeth (George) Lyons, the former of whom was of Irish and the lat- ter of Scotch descent. In 1824 his father removed from Pennsylvania to Jefferson county, Ind., where he engaged in farming. He died in 1877, his wife in 1878.

The subject of our sketch was reared on his father's farm, and received his edu- cation in the common schools of the neighborhood. When a young man he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1845 he came to Cincinnati and worked four years under one man, at the expiration of which time he began contracting and building for him- self. In 1862 he went into the mill business, manufacturing carpenters' supplies, which he continued ten years, and then took up contracting again. He married, April 20, 1851, Miss Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Berch) Fogg, by which union were born eight children, two living, and six deceased. Albert E. is engaged in manufacturing blinds, doors, sash, and builders' supplies, in Lockland; Ella is a music teacher. Those deceased are: Walter B., Edward A., James B., Mary, Clara and George. Mr. Lyons is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Knights of Py- thias.

CHARLES S. WOODRUFF was born in Litchfield county, Conn., August 1, 1816, son of Isaac and Lodina (Clark) Woodruff, both also natives of Connecticut, and of English descent. The subject of our sketch received his education in the common schools and at an academy, and in 1834 taught school at Watertown, Conn. In 1838 he removed to Cincinnati, where he engaged in mercantile business, continu- ing in that line until 1864. He then bought a farm in what is now Wyoming, and

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has since been busily engaged in the building up of that village. He has erected a fine brick block near the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, and takes an act- ive part in all the enterprises which lead to the advancement of the town.

On August 5, 1842, Mr. Woodruff married Charlotte R. Jenks, of Philadelphia, and to this marriage have been born six children, three of whom are living: Charles S., Jr., Gertrude and Edward. Those deceased are: Adda, Henry, and Anna. Charles S. and his father were engaged in the lumber and also in the boot and shoe business at Lockland for a short time, when their building was burned. Charles S. is now a general merchant at Wyoming. Mr. Woodruff and family are members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically he is a Republican. He was one of the incor- porators of Wyoming, and was a member of the council some years.

PAUL S. HusTox, a representative of an old pioneer family, was born May 9, 1823, in Springfield township, Hamilton county, son of William and Martha (Peter- son) Huston, the former born in Lancaster county, Penn., September 6, 1792, and the latter born February 9, 1796, in Springfield township, Hamilton county. They were of Scotch-Irish and English and German descent, respectively. William Huston came with his parents to this county when a child, and his boyhood days were spent on the farm. After he reached manhood he engaged in distilling liquor, and carried on this business in connection with farming. He remained in his town- ship until a year before his death, which occurred September 20, 1848, near Day- ton, Ohio. He owned a large tract of land in Springfield township. He was a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and took a very active part in the politi- cal affairs of the county. In religious connection he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church.

After his father's death our subject managed the farm for his mother until her death, in September, 1870, on the old homestead in Springfield township, after which he bought the homestead farm, consisting of 160 acres, and was actively engaged in farming until a few years ago. His only surviving brother, Rhinor, now helps to conduct the farm, and he makes his home with him. Mr. Huston has never married. Politically he is a Democrat; he cast his first ballot in 1844, since which time he has never missed voting, either at the spring or fall elections.

JOSEPH SAMPSON, of Lockland, Springfield township, was born June 4, 1821, in Sycamore township, Hamilton county, the son of James and Agnes (Cromwell) Sampson, and grandson of Joseph Sampson, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to this county in 1792 and settled in Sycamore township. He was taken prisoner by the Indians and kept in captivity five years, obtaining his liberty through exchange for a British soldier. James Sampson was born at Columbia, Hamilton county, in 1794. He was a bricklayer by trade, and followed that occupation until 1840, when he bought a farm in Columbia township and engaged in farming. He died in 1878. He was married three times, and was the father of eleven children, five of whom are living. His first wife was Agnes Cromwell, a native of Ireland, who came to Amer- ica with her parents at the age of two years. His second wife was Ellen Day, and the third was Martha Patmer. The surviving children are: Mary, of Huntington, Ind., and Joseph, who were born to the first marriage; David, Ann and Caroline, of the second marriage.

Our subject was educated in the common schools of Columbia township, and at the age of eighteen began to serve an apprenticeship with William Swain, of Cin- cinnati, as a bricklayer. At the age of twenty-one he completed his term, and worked at his trade by the day in the employ of other men in Cincinnati until 1847, when he began taking jobs and contracting in the same business for himself. In that year he married and settled at Carthage, Hamilton county, remaining there until 1858, when he erected a residence in Lockland, of which place he has since been a resident. He has worked at his trade continuously with the exception of the four months he served in the Civil war, having enlisted in 1864 in Company I, One

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Hundred and Thirty-eighth O. V. I. He has served as councilman in Lockland for two terms, and is a stanch Republican. He was married, June 6, 1847, to Miss Lucinda, daughter of William and Martha (Wilson) Baxter, the former born in Ire- land and the latter in Pennsylvania, of English descent. Mr. Baxter was a farmer by occupation, and they were members of the Presbyterian Church. To this mar- riage have been born two children: Albert, a telegraph operator in Vanburen county, Texas, and Mary, deceased. Mr. Sampson was again married, in 1853, this time to Mrs. Jane (Oliver) Doty (the widow of William P. Doty), who was born April 13, 1822, daughter of Henry and Mary (Logan) Oliver, the former a native of Ireland, who came to New York when young. To this marriage one child was born, John L., who is salesman for a firm of paper-bag manufacturers of Middletown, Ohio.

SAMUEL B. FINDLAY, deceased, was born in Franklin county, Penn., in 1802. He was one of Cincinnati's early citizens, coming here from Pittsburgh, Penn., about the year 1830, and became at once identified with whatever contributed to the inter- ests of the "Queen City." He was one of the founders of the Central Presbyterian Church, and was a member of council and a member of the school board, when the latter offices were filled only by men of integrity and high standing. He was engaged in extensive mercantile transactions with firms whose names were land- marks in the early history of the city. He was the son of Col. John Findlay, of Franklin county, Penn., for years a member of Congress from his District, and who was noted for his bravery in the war of 1812. Gen. James Findlay, brother of Col. John Findlay, and of Gov. William Findlay, of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio about 1792, served in the Indian war, and was afterward appointed receiver of public moneys. He served with distinction in the war of 1812, at which time he built Fort Findlay, now the county seat of Hancock. Gen. (then Col. ) Findlay was with Gen. Hull at Detroit, at the time of the surrender, and so incensed was he at what, in common with both officers and men, he considered an act of cowardice, that when called upon to surrender his sword he thrust it into the ground, snapping off the blade and surrendering only the hilt. After the war the General settled in Cincin- nati, was a member of Congress for several terms, and, to quote from Mr. Mans- field's "Memcirs of Daniel Drake," was one of the most distinguished of that band of pioneers who founded Cincinnati, shaped its fortunes, and formed its first circles of good society.

The subject of this sketch, Samuel B. Findlay, married Mrs. Elizabeth Duncan, daughter of Samuel Patterson, one of Cincinnati's prominent pioneer merchants. Of their four children, John, who served during the war of the Rebellion in the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, and has since been identified with the banks of Cincinnati, and Mary Torrence, who resides near Glendale, are the only survivors.

GIDEON G. PALMER was born July 4, 1829, in Knox county, Ohio, the son of Job and Sarah (Gibson) Palmer, of whom the former was born in Pennsylvania in 1807; the latter was a native of Maryland, born May 3, 1806, and died December 26, 1836. She was a member of the Society of Friends. Our subject's father migrated to Knox county when a young man. He was a miller by trade, in which he was engaged in Fredericktown, Ohio, for a few years, and subsequently at Belleville, Ohio. In 1849 he moved to Muscatine county, Iowa, where he also engaged in milling, remaining there for about four years, when he returned to Ohio, locating in Lockland, where he now resides.

Mr. Palmer's entire life has been spent in the milling business. He was edu- cated in the common schools of Fredericktown and Belleville. When he reached the age of twenty he began working in the flourmill of his uncle, H. Palmer, in Lockland, with whom he remained for a few years, and then rented what was known as the frame mill in Lockland; he operated this for two years, after which he and J. W. Bachlor purchased what was then known as the brick mill, now known as the Lockland Flourmill. Mr. Palmer was united in marriage November 7, 1850, with

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Miss Mary Bachlor, who was born May 5, 1831, in Manayunk, Penn. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and her father was a shoemaker by trade. Our sub- ject's wife died November 18, 1887, a devout member of the Methodist Church. This marriage was blessed by six children: William Iram, deceased; Elizabeth; Ida Luella, deceased; Fannie Estela; Maggie Laurena, and Anna May. Mrs. Palmer was a faithful wife, a kind and loving mother, and a devout Christian worker. She was of such a disposition that no one could spend an hour in her company without being the better for having done so. On December 19, 1889, Mr. Palmer married Mrs. Virginia McChesney, who died about two weeks after their marriage. He was again married, February 11, 1891, this time to Mrs. Nancy Young, a native of Love- land, Ohio. Mr. Palmer is actively engaged in business; he is kept busy looking after his milling and real-estate interests in Wyoming. He is held in high esteem by all who know him. In religious faith he is a member of the Methodist Church, and politically he is a Republican.

MRS. ADALINE C. FRENCH, residing between Woodlawn and Glendale, Springfield township, Hamilton county, was born in Cincinnati, daughter of Edward and Julia Anı (Doggett) Harwood, both of whom were natives of Providence, R. I. Mr. Harwood migrated to this State when a young man, settled in Cincinnati, and was a member of the firm of Marsh & Harwood, proprietors of chemical works. He was successfully engaged thus for a period of twenty-five years prior to his death, which occurred in October, 1875. His wife died in August, 1875. Politically he was a Republican. They were both members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Harwood's grandfather emigrated from Oxford, England, and located in Rhode Island. His father was born in Providence, that State. Mrs. Harwood was left alone, before her marriage, in the world at the age of seventeen, and went to reside with her uncle, the Hon. David Doggett, of New Haven, Conn., who was once Governor of that State, was twice senator, and was also president of the law school at Yale. To Mr. and Mrs. Harwood were born eight children; only three daughters survived: one of them, Mrs. H. C. Robbins, resides at Mt. Auburn, one in Cleveland, the other in Springfield township.

Mrs. French was educated at Mr. Welbur's school in Cincinnati, and at Wood- ward High School. She was united in marriage February 14, 1865, to Mr. Maynard' French, who was born in Evansville, Ind., the son of Ira and Nancy (Wood) French,- and to this marriage six children were born. They attend the Presbyterian Church of Glendale. Mr. French was a Republican in politics. He was connected with the Ætna Insurance Company for twenty-three years, and was afterward vice-president. of the Marsh & Harwood Chemical Works, of Cincinnati.

REV. LUDLOW D. POTTER, D.D., president of the Glendale Female College, was born in New Providence, N. J., January 3, 1823, on a farm which now constitutes the site. of the village of Summit. He was related to the Ludlow family, one of two. brothers being Col. Israel Ludlow, one of the founders of Cincinnati, and the other. Gen. Benjamin Ludlow, both natives of New Jersey. A nephew of the latter was Ben- jamin Ludlow Day, for whom the subject of this sketch was named, omitting Benjamin. His parents, Maj. Jotham and Phebe (Pettit) Potter, were of Welsh and French extraction respectively; the former was born on the old homestead in New Provi- dence, October 3, 1781, and died September 2, 1861; the latter was born December 23, 1791, and died February 23, 1871. They were the parents of eight children,. four of whom are living: Amos, who resides on the farm in New Jersey, where his; parents died; Sarah C., who is the wife of Daniel L. Bonnell, engaged in the mill'- ing business in Stanley, N. J .; Phebe, who lives with her brother Amos in New Jersey, and Rev. Ludlow D. Dr. Potter's paternal and maternal ancestors emi- grated to America about 1640 and 1675, respectively. They finally settled in New Jersey. His grandfathers, Amos Potter and Benjamin Pettit, were captains in the American army during the Revolutionary struggle.

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Dr. Potter prepared for college at a boarding school in Mendham, and entered as a Sophomore at Princeton College in 1838, graduating honorably in 1841. Dur- ing the next two years he taught languages and mathematics at a classical school in Plainfield, N. J., conducted by E. Fairchild, A. M. In the fall of 1843 he entered the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, but the next year trans- ferred his studentship to Princeton, where he graduated as a theologue in the spring of 1846. Again, during the next Academic year, he taught a classical school in Pennington, N. J., and then in the fall of 1847 set his face west- ward, and became the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Brookville, Ind., where he remained about six years. He had been licensed as a Presbyterian minister in New Jersey in 1846, and was here ordained the second year thereafter. He was in 1853 elected principal of the Whitewater Presbyterian Academy, in Union county, Ind., and held the post for three years, when he removed to Glendale, and became associated with the Revs. Dr. J. G. Monfort and S. S. Potter in the management and instruction of the Female College. Here he was head of the department of in- struction, and in 1865, Dr. Monfort having resigned the presidency, he succeeded to that position, and has since remained president of the institution. . Education is thus seen, in the length and prominence of his connection with it, to be his field of usefulness and honor, rather than the pulpit, although he has done reputable service in the latter, both as pastor and as occasional preacher to congregations in Hamilton county and elsewhere. His academic honors have also approved his career, he hav- ing been made Master of Arts by Princeton College in 1844, and a Doctor of Divinity by Hanover (Indiana) College in 1873. Dr. Potter was married June 4, 1850, in Pennington, N. J., to Miss Henrietta M., daughter of Enoch and Matilda Ketcham. Five children have blessed this union, all of whom are living: Rev. Thomas C. Pot- ter, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Cedar Falls, Iowa; Jotham Potter, ex-treas- urer of the Brush Electric Company, and now president of the Buckeye Electric Company, both in Cleveland, Ohio; Theodore Potter, M. D., a practicing physician, and professor in the Indianapolis Medical College; Louise K., widow of Edwin D. Strong, of Great Barrington, Mass., and Mary, who is at home with her parents in Glendale. Dr. Potter's first wife died July 17, 1867. On September 2, 1874, he was again married, this time to Miss Ellen. Wiley, daughter of John and Margaret Wiley, of Washington, Pennsylvania.

REV. NICHOLAS J. KELLY was born August 31, 1851, in Brown county, Ohio, at which place he remained until he was ten years of age. He was the son of Christo- pher C. and Catherine (Carey) Kelly, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the for- mer born in County Meath in 1822, the latter born in County Cavan. They came to this country in 1842, and now live at Hamilton, Ohio. They were the parents of three children, of whom our subject is the only survivor. The deceased are John and Mary Jane Kelly. Mr. Kelly's religious views are Catholic.

Our subject attended the district school in Brown county until he removed with his parents to Cincinnati in 1861. In 1889 they became residents of Glendale, Ohio. He attended the Cathedral parish school in Cincinnati, after which he was employed for several years with the firm of Chatfield & Woods. From 1875 until 1878 he at- tended St. Xavier College, Cincinnati, and then attended Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West. In 1880 he attended Mt. St. Mary's of Emmitsburgh, Md. In 1881 he again returned to St. Xavier College, after which he entered St. Mary's Theo- logical Seminary in Baltimore City, where he remained until ordained priest Decem- ber 18, 1886. He was on a mission for about a year before being stationed as assistant at St. Peter's Cathedral in Cincinnati, where he remained until transferred to St. Gabriel's Parish, of Glendale, October 19, 1889.

THOMAS SPOONER was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 17, 1817, and died March 10. 1890. He started in life for himself at the age of eleven years, and until he was fifteen was errand boy and clerk in some of the leading grocery and dry-goods

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stores in Cincinnati. In 1833 he had charge of a country store in Somerville, Ohio, and in 1834-35 held a similar position in Elkton, Ohio. He entered the hardware store of Kellogg, Wells & Co., of Cincinnati, in 1835, and continued with them until 1840, when he formed a co-partnership in the same business with Jonathan P. Broadwell, under the firm name of Broadwell & Spooner. This continued three years. In 1845 he entered into partnership with Geog. L. Wood, and so continued three years, conducting a hardware and iron business under the firm name of Spooner & Wood, and in the manufacture of bar iron under that of Wood & Spooner, consti- tuting the Queen City Rolling Mills. In 1850 he went to California, and with Adam Cannon and John Mitchell established the " Barnum House " on Commercial street, San Francisco. The United States Branch Mint was afterward located on this site. He returned to Cincinnati in 1851, and again engaged in the hardware business, in which he remained until 1854. In 1840 he was secretary of the Young Men's Mer- cantile Library Association of Cincinnati, and a member of the directory the two fol- lowing years. In 1841 he became a member of Cincinnati Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F .; he became a member of the Grand Lodge of the State in July, 1842, and Grand Mas- ter in 1847; was a representative from the Grand Lodge of Ohio to the Grand Lodge of the United States, 1847-48; he was grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment, I. O. O. F., of Ohio, 1857-58. In 1848 he was elected a member of the city coun- cil of Cincinnati, representing the Second Ward. In October, 1834, he was elected under a nomination by the American party, by a majority of more than seven thou- sand, clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Hamilton county, Ohio, and became ex- officio clerk of the District Court, Hamilton county, and clerk of the Supreme Court of Cincinnati. He served in that office three years. He represented the State as Senatorial Delegate in the convention at Philadelphia which nominated John C. Fremont as candidate for the presidency; and again served as senatorial representa- tive for Ohio in the convention at Chicago, 1860, which nominated Abraham Lincoln as a candidate for the presidency.

At the close of his term of office as clerk of the courts Mr. Spooner formed a co- partnership with Coates Kinney in the practice of law. This continued but one year when he removed to his farm near Reading in Sycamore township. While liv- ing in the country he served seven years as a school director of his District; six years as member of the Sycamore township board of education, and five years as chairman of the board; for nine years he was one of the committee of visitors and examiners of the schools of that township. In 1862 he was appointed, by President Lincoln, collector of internal revenue for the First Collection District of Ohio. The office was organized by him in September of that year, and he continued in that position until August 20, 1866. In 1876 he removed to Cincinnati, and in the spring of same year was appointed a member of the executive board which had charge of the Cen- tennial Celebration of Cincinnati for July 4th. In 1879 he removed to Glendale where he spent the remaining years of his life. In 1884 he was elected mayor of that village, and in 1886 was re-elected. His widow and eight children- four sons and four daughters-are still living. The family is of English ancestry, and descended from William Spooner, who came to Massachusetts from England in 1638. Mr. Spooner spent a number of years writing a history of his family and ances- tors. This he made his life work, and completed it in the last year of his life.

JAMES FRANKLIN HEADY, physician and surgeon, office and residence in Glendale, was born in Vevay, Ind., November 7, 1851. His grandparents were natives of Virginia and removed to Georgetown, Ky., in an early day. George W. Heady, father of our subject, was born near Georgetown, Ky., in 1806, and died on his farm which he purchased direct from the United States government near Vevay, Indiana, November 8, 1863. The mother, Elizabeth (Johnson) Heady, was born in 1811, also near Georgetown, Ky., and died January 1, 1882, at Vevay, Indiana. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living; John S., a retired

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 162

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592